It is known that alpha-arylacrylonitriles are useful as chemical intermediates and that they can be prepared in various ways. For example, Jacobs et al., Journal of Organic Chemistry, 1983, Vol. 48, pp. 5134-5135, teach that 6-methoxy-1-cyano-3,4-dihydronaphthalene is useful as an intermediate in the synthesis of steroids and that it can be prepared by (1) the addition of diethylaluminum cyanide to 6-methoxytetralone followed by dehydration or (2) the addition of cyanotrimethylsilane to 6-methoxytetralone followed by treatment with phosphoryl chloride in pyridine. As taught by Jacobs et al., the former method of synthesizing their alpha-arylacrylonitrile is impractical for large scale operations, and the latter method requires two steps.